Controversy Hits ‘Scrum Against The Clock’
Besides the weekends race action, Clio Cup title sponsor AirAsia organised a ‘Scrum Against The Clock’ competition to launch their new competition to win free flights. The competitors; Sale Sharks Rugby Club, and a team of Clio Cup Champions.
Lining up for Sale were Welsh international Andy Powell, Luther Burrell, Director of Sport Steve Diamond and Head Coach Pete Anglesea. Their opponents comprised two time champion Paul Rivett, Scuderia Vittoria team manager Danny Buxton, reigning champion and current BTCC driver Dave Newsham, along with Tom Onslow-Cole.
The competition was simple, a start finish straight push over a measured distance. The ‘push’ was to be Luke Wright’s race car which carried the answer to this weeks competition on its sunstrip.
First up were the drivers, who set an impressive time of 4.67 seconds. The Sale Sharks had no answer for this finishing in a time of 6.77 seconds, over two seconds slower than their much more lightweight opponents.
However, video footage showed that the drivers had in fact jumped the start and they were made to complete the run again. This time round they finished in 6.94 seconds, handing the win to the Rugby stars.
Andy Powell certainly seemed to enjoy his time at Oulton Park; “It’s brilliant to get the opportunity to attend Oulton Park today and I have really enjoyed myself,” he said. “It’s interesting to see the different mindset that drivers have compared to rugby players as they seem to be so calm before a race. I thoroughly enjoyed launching AirAsia’s new competition and I’m glad that we managed to redeem ourselves against the drivers in the scrum”.
Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey
Richard Devine
